`Mv-50` Award Catches Vid-clip Promoters` Attention

December 11, 1992|By Mary Stevens.

Everybody loves a winner. Since November, when WPWR-Ch. 50`s music-video show ``MV-50`` received a Billboard Magazine award for ``Best Local/Regional Music Video Program-Dance Category,`` phone calls from record-company promoters trying to get their video clips on the show have doubled, according to ``MV-50`` producer and WPWR sales representative Armando Zapata.

``We`re hopeful that the award will boost our advertising sales as well,`` he admits. ``But the biggest thrill is being recognized by Billboard, which is the bible of the music industry.``

Not that ``MV-50,`` which airs at about 3 a.m. Sundays, wasn`t successful before winning the award. ``The show`s been on about nine years now,`` says Zapata. ``When we started, cable TV penetration in Chicago was almost nonexistent. We grabbed the market before people in the city could get MTV or BET. Also, we`ve always been more dance-oriented than MTV, and we continue to cater to that particular audience.`` Core artists for the ``MV-50`` playlist include such national/international dance-music heavyweights as Madonna, Bobby Brown, En Vogue and Arrested Development. Chicago artists such as Inner City and La Tour also have been featured.

Zapata accepted the award plaque during the 14th annual Billboard Music Video Conference and Awards ceremonies in Los Angeles. ``For me, it was just as exciting as winning an Oscar,`` he says.

- ``Mystical`` preview: ``Mystical Things,`` the debut CD by Charmed Life (on Elysian Advocate Records), is set for release in January, but you can hear material from the album and pick up advance cassette copies Thursday night at the Beat Kitchen. Since the album was recorded last spring, Charmed Life`s acoustic songwriting trio of Billy Daker (guitar), Ronnie Reporto

(vocals and guitar) and Robert General (vocals and keyboards) has added two new members, Deric Perry (drums) and Tom Lempke (bass). The new members replace bassist Steve Tschaikowsky and drummer Derek Henderson, who played on ``Mystical Things.``

Crawdads cassette: New Orleans-style rockers the Crawdads have released their first album, ``AIN`T YOU HAPPe`,`` on cassette, with a CD release to follow soon.

Howards return: The Howards` new CD, ``The Howards Call In Sick,`` is now in stores.

Stayin` alive: Disco fever rages on. ``Groove-funk-disco-lava lamp-style`` group Boogie Shoes has been rehearsing at Chicago Music Complex for a Wednesday night ``Disco Inferno`` show at the China Club. And the Village People are set for a Jan. 31 appearance in the China Club Dance Room.